Douglas gets back to business

For those who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or have questions, call the Quad-County COVID-19 Hotline 7 days a week, 8 am to 5 pm. Spanish speakers are available. The phone number is (775) 283-4789.

People were shopping for fruit Tuesday at the Minden Farmers Market on Esmeralda Avenue as Carson Valley got back to work.

Organizer Roxanne Stangle said there was a line of people waiting for the market to open at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

She said shoppers were understanding about getting their hands spritzed with sanitizer and respecting social distance among the rules set up for the market.

Stangle was also able to reopen Tumblewind under certain conditions.

East Fork Gallery was busy on Tuesday morning when it opened for the first time in two months.

Douglas County librarians are conducting curbside service for patrons who’d ordered books online or by calling the library.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is seeking a letter of support from Douglas County commissioners to reopen its nongaming operations under the governor’s Phase One guidelines.

The Hard Rock laid off 421 employees as a result of the governor’s order to halt all gaming operations in the state.

Hard Rock operators said that despite the closure they are receiving an average of 75 calls a day to see if they’re open and seeking to make hotel reservations.

“We are seeing this demand increase now that business openings are ramping up both here in Douglas County and in El Dorado County, which is the California gateway to Stateline and contributes significantly to our occupancy due to the small bed base in Northern California,” Neva One majority members Diana Bennett and G. Scott Menke wrote.

Douglas County commissioners meet 1 p.m. Thursday.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board is permitting restaurants inside casinos to reopen under strict guidelines.

On Monday results for the last of 1,798 asymtomatic coronavirus tests across four counties were announced with no new positive tests.

About 580 Douglas County residents were among those tested last week and none turned up positive. Testing was designed to see if anyone had the coronavirus but wasn’t showing symptoms. One Lyon County woman in her 50s tested positive. The tests could not determine if someone had previously been infected with the disease.

As of Wednesday night, Douglas County has four active cases and 22 recoveries. A Douglas man in his 60s was reported to have the virus on Wednesday. A Douglas woman in her 40s tested positive on Saturday for the virus.

No deaths have been reported in Douglas, though a third Carson death was reported on Monday. Four people were hospitalized as of Wednesday night.